Criminals love home Wi-Fi networks. When left open, unsecured and not protected by strong passwords, hackers can attack your gadgets and steal your information. They can upload or download illegal files and they can generally do whatever criminal activity they want.

It is not just about bandwidth theft that could potentially slow your connection down. More importantly, it is also about security and making sure that no Wi-Fi thieves are using your connection for illegal activities. Remember, when law enforcement traces the illegal activity, you - the router's owner - are left being held responsible.

Of course, your neighbors can be the nicest people in the world and you absolutely trust them dearly. But how about "wardriving" strangers who are always driving around, hunting for unprotected Wi-Fi networks they can exploit? You will definitely need to protect your home Wi-Fi against these roving opportunists.

Here are a few basic tips we recommend for securing your Wi-Fi router against unauthorized network hitchhikers.